2002-02-05 Willie Jorrin drew 12 Osamu Sato, Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan - WBC. Referee: Terry O’Connor. Scorecards: 114-114, 113-113, 112-114. Making an excellent start, the sharp-punching Jorrin (122) floored his challenger twice in round three and showing up impressively looked to be well on his way to retaining his title. However, at that point the fight took a surprise turn. Although he had begun nervously, Sato (122) began to fire back and started to get to Jorrin with busy combination punching in the fourth as the latter strangely eased off, occasionally sending in counters but without any conviction. Dominating from then on, Sato seemed assured of the verdict in front of his home fans, but it was not to be as Jorrin, cut over the left eye and losing on one of the cards, escaped with a draw. With Jorrin indisposed, Oscar Larios stopped Israel Vazquez in the 12th rounds of a contest to decide the WBC ‘interim’ title at the Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California, USA on 16 May 2002. Just over three months later, Larios successfully defended the ‘interim’ title when stopping Manabu Fukushima in the eighth round of their contest at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena, Tokyo on 24 August. Following that, Larios was lined up to be Jorrin’s next challenger.